It’s important to have a place to store all the ideas that you have captured. I have used both paper files and digital ones; the main point is to have a spot where you always deposit your ideas so that you can find them later.

In the beginning stages it is not important to create an elaborate filing system. It’s a waste of time. As you work on a project you will probably restructure the categories so any filing system you choose now will become obsolete.

In fact, in the idea stage it is important to not be too specific. You don’t want to pigeon hole your ideas yet. Give them freedom to grow and morph. In the next post we will talk about creating some foundational categories for a project—but even then we will want to do it in a way that encourages the ideas to flow and doesn’t confine or restrict them.

If you have a couple of major projects that you are working on you may want to create a file for each. Or, you may want a file for personal ideas and one for work ideas. But don’t get more specific than that.

So, throw your ideas into one or two large boxes or file folders and let them sit until you are ready to work with them.